China’s LoL Pro League, known as the LPL, starts back up on Monday, January 14th. The 2019 Spring Season consists of 16 teams playing a single round robin with best of three matches. We preview the players and teams you should be keeping an eye out for in China in 2019.
Will RNG continue their dominance in the LPL or will the powerhouses see their reign end?
Breakout Player: Knight
There are not a lot of players—even world class players—that can stand up in lane to Rookie, but Knight has shown the potential to go toe-to-toe with him. That much was obvious in the Demacia Cup Winter Finals, where Topsports Gaming fell to Invictus Gaming 1-3. Knight finished the series with an impressive 28/11/22 KDA and looked very comfortable against the World Champions.
While sitting out the 2018 Summer Split, Knight was dominating the Korean Solo Queue ladder, holding rank 1 for long stretches. He is best known for his assassin play and putting pressure on teams in 1-3-1 split pushes in side lanes. Ekko is his top comfort pick, but he has shown the ability to play the entire range of mid lane champions. In a region that has always prioritized mechanics over macro prowess, Knight will be a star in the LPL in 2019 and will help Topsports Gaming compete for a title.
Most Impactful Player Transfer: Maple and SwordArT to Suning
Suning already had a great core. Smlz and XiaoAL are arguably the second best bot and top laners in the region, and H4cker settles in nicely as an upper-mid tier jungler who can control the pace of the game. Adding Maple and SwordArT to that mix will elevate Suning from playoff contender to title contender. They don’t always get the respect they deserve because the LMS as a region is so weak and Flash Wolves has disappointed in their last couple of Worlds appearances, but Maple and SwordArT were their best players and now get a teammate upgrade.
By the same token, it is an important year for everyone on this roster. They are all playing with better players than they’ve ever had before, so results are expected. Smlz and SwordArT have never played with players as talented as each other and Maple has threats in every lane to take the pressure off. It’s always tough to expect teams to come together immediately, especially when players are transferring to another region, but Suning will be major players in 2019.
Most Valuable Player: Rookie
There’s a strong possibility that Rookie won’t win an MVP award in 2019. The only reason for that is there might be a player who nears his dominance and voters want to reward that player after Rookie has already taken home every award of significance. His play is on another level. With his performance on the Worlds stage, we no longer have to speculate on his ceiling as a player at any given moment. Now we see how long he can sustain his elite level. His matchup in the opening game of the season against Knight will be a treat.
Dark Horse Team: JD Gaming
JD Gaming lost their jungler Clid to SK Telecom T1, so you know he was good. But that doesn’t mean that JD Gaming are not poised to make some noise in the LPL in 2019. Zoom and YaGao are the next up-and-coming solo lane stars in China. Bringing in Flawless and Levi to compete for time in the jungle should allow JDG an adequate replacement for Clid in the jungle. And, oh yeah, they added a Hall of Fame level talent in imp.
Skeptics will say that Levi and Flawless won’t be able to match up to Clid’s play, YaGao and Zoom aren’t ready to challenge the elite solo laners, and imp is washed up. The start of a new year and new season is a time for new hope, though, and JD Gaming fans have that in their 2019 roster.
Team That May Disappoint: EDward Gaming
EDward Gaming returns all five players from a team that finished 3rd in the LPL in 2018 and reached the quarterfinals of the World Championship. What’s not to like? As of now, the meta remains slanted toward early game and laning power, so EDG looks good in that regard. But what if the meta changes, like it always does, during the season? We watched them get outclassed in macro against Fnatic, not to mention that the LPL always boasts some of the most mechanically gifted teams in the world. EDG will have to add a new element of team coordination in 2019.
Speaking of that team coordination, they also have a very relevant coaching change heading into 2019. Following the loss to Fnatic, NoFe announced his departure as head coach and went back to Korea to join Afreeca Freecs. The new head coach, Heart, is no slouch, but NoFe is well respected across the industry and it would be impossible to call any move an upgrade. Maybe EDG will benefit from a new voice in the room, but more likely they will struggle early as they find new direction.
Title Favorite: Invictus Gaming
Who else can you pick when a team is coming off back-to-back 18-1 regular seasons and a World Championship. They return all five starters and have no discernible weaknesses in lane. To imagine a scenario in which they struggle, we have to concoct specific metas that could allow the team to struggle. As long as Riot doesn’t move back to the mid laner Ardent Censer and late-game team fighting meta immediately, we like IG’s chances in 2019. Even then, they have another year to grow and are surely working on their team fighting weaknesses from 2018.
LPL Power Rankings
Teams come from out of nowhere, top teams fall apart, and that’s why they play the games. But heading into the 2019 Spring Season, these are early LPL Power Rankings with a quick thought on each team.
16) Vici Gaming
2018 Spring Record: 2-17
2018 Summer Record: 2-17
Top: Zhao “Aodi” Ao-Di
Top: Xia “Chelizi” Han-Xi
Jungle: Li “Aix” Yang
Jungle: Zeng “Youdang” Xian-Xin
Mid: Choo “FireRain” Hwa-woo
Mid: Chen “Jay” Bo
Bot: Ding “Puff” Wang
Bot: Wu “Snow” Hao-Shun
Support: Duan “Caveman” De-Liang
Support: Su “Southwind” Zhi-Lin
Vici Gaming are coming off a rough 2018 and will be looking to find a core of players to build around in 2019.
15) SinoDragon Gaming
2018 Spring Record: N/A
2018 Summer Record: N/A
Top: Jiang “Changhong” Chang-Hong
Jungle: Wang “Xiaopeng” Peng
Mid: Huang “Twila” Ting-Wei
Bot: Chen “Gala” Wei
Support: Ling “Mark” Xu
Support: Lu “Mitsuki” Jia-Lun
SinoDragon promoted from LDL as one of the two new LPL teams in 2019. They have kept their roster intact for 2019, but face a tough road against stiffer competition.
14) Victory Five
2018 Spring Record: N/A
2018 Summer Record: N/A
Top: Lim “Jinoo” Jin-Woo
Jungle: Tu “Ben4” Xin-Cheng
Jungle: Hu “Pepper” Zhi-Wei
Mid: Lei “Corn” Wen
Bot: Wang “Y4” Nong-Mo
Support: Le “Realey” Yi
Support: Yun “Road” Han-gil
Victory Five are the other new squad in the LPL for 2019. They have acquired some players deemed expendable by other rosters and hope to find something to build around for 2020.
13) Bilibili Gaming
2018 Spring Record: 11-8
2018 Summer Record: 6-13
Top: Kang “ADD” Geon-mo
Jungle: Lee “Chieftan” Jae-yub
Jungle: Zeng “Meteor” Guo-Hao
Mid: Lee “Kuro” Seo-haeng
Bot: Xie “Jinjiao” Jin-Shan
Support: Xie “Kine” Chao
Support: Peng “Mni” Fang
Bilibili Gaming added Kuro from Afreeca Freecs in the offseason in hopes of solidifying their mid lane. With ADD in top lane, they will rely on Meteor in jungle in 2019.
12) Team WE
2018 Spring Record: 9-10
2018 Summer Record: 6-13
Top: Ke “957” Chang-Yu
Top: Kim “Poss” Min-cheol
Jungle: Jiang “beishang” Zhi-Peng
Jungle: Zhou “Magic” Jun-Xuan
Mid: Chen “chen9” Yi-Bing
Mid: Su “xiye” Han-Wei
Bot: Yao “GENTLE” Xi-Jian
Bot: Jin “Mystic” Seong-jun
Support: Lou “Missing” Yun-Feng
Support: Wang “Sun” Xu-Zhuo
The original esports club of China, Team WE looks to be in for another dark 2019 unless they get some unexpected breakout performances from their large roster.
11) Oh My God
2018 Spring Record: 5-14
2018 Summer Record: 5-14
Top: Hu “Xiyang” Bin
Top: Hu “Ale” Jia-Le
Jungle: Zhou “l3est16” Zhi-Li
Jungle: Xue “Mountain” Zhao-Hong
Jungle: Zhao “Penguin” Shuai
Mid: Xie “icon” Tian-Yu
Bot: Li “Chelly” Yu-Zhou
Support: Liu “Five” Shi-Yu
Support: Wu “Xuan” Zheng-Hang
Another of the original clubs, Oh My God is not in a much better spot than Team WE. They could use an infusion of fresh talent to give the organization life in 2019.
10) LGD Gaming
2018 Spring Record: 6-13
2018 Summer Record: 9-10
Top: Guo “Lie” Hao-Tian
Jungle: Xiang “Condi” Ren-Jie
Jungle: Xie “Eimy” Dan
Mid: An “Ian” Jun-hyeong
Mid: Hu “Yuuki” Hao-Ming
Bot: Ha “Kramer” Jong-hun
Bot: Liang “RD” Teng-Li
Support: Chen “Pyl” Bo
LGD Gaming made some moves in the offseason, bringing in Lies, Condi, Ian, Kramer, and RD. It likely isn’t enough to move them to the top half of the league, but they are a team with upset potential.
9) Snake Esports
2018 Spring Record: 12-7
2018 Summer Record: 7-12
Top: Li “Flandre” Xuan-Jun
Jungle: Lê “SofM” Quang Duy
Mid: Zhang “Andy” Jie
Mid: Yang “Mala” Hyeon-jong
Bot: Lu “Asura” Qi
Support: Hu “Maestro” Jian-Xin
Flandre is really good. Snake Esports will hope that their combination of Andy and Mala mid lane can match his talent and that Asura and Maestro will give them a more formidable bot duo in 2019.
8) Rogue Warriors
2018 Spring Record: 13-6
2018 Summer Record: 14-5
Top: Jiang “Jiangqiao” Jia-Feng
Top: Liu “Zhaoyun” Shuang-Yin
Jungle: Li “Xuzhu” Yu-Qing
Mid: Tian “HuaTian” Mai
Mid: Liang “Jungtian” Shi-Hui
Mid: Huang “KongMing” Yi-Jun
Bot: Mei “ZWuJi” Hong-Hui
Support: Liu “Killua” Dan-Yang
This may be high as the roster was completely overhauled in the offseason, but we’re giving the benefit of the doubt to an organization that has had two consecutive strong splits.
7) FunPlus Phoenix
2018 Spring Record: 9-10
2018 Summer Record: 8-11
Top: Kim “GimGoon” Han-saem
Jungle: Gao “Tian” Tian-Liang
Jungle: Chang “Xinyi” Ping
Mid: Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang
Bot: Lin “Lwx” Wei-Xiang
Support: Liu “Crisp” Qing-Song
Doinb had a great 2018 on Rogue Warriors and should spearhead a top half finish for FunPlus Phoenix in 2019.
6) EDward Gaming
2018 Spring Record: 14-5
2018 Summer Record: 11-8
Top: Jeon “Ray” Ji-won
Jungle: Ming “Clearlove” Kai
Jungle: Chen “Haro” Wen-Lin
Mid: Lee “Scout” Ye-chan
Bot: Hu “iBoy” Xian-Zhao
Support: Tian “Meiko” Ye
The loss of NoFe looms large, but EDward Gaming still boast a mechanical powerhouse of a team and have great international experience.
5) JD Gaming
2018 Spring Record: 10-9
2018 Summer Record: 13-6
Top: Zhang “Zoom” Xing-Ran
Jungle: Sung “Flawless” Yeon-jun
Jungle: Đỗ “Levi” Duy Khánh
Mid: Zeng “YaGao” Qi
Bot: Ju “Bvoy” Yeong-hoon
Bot: Gu “imp” Seung-bin
Support: Zuo “LvMao” Ming-Hao
Our dark horse pick looks primed to break out in 2019. Keep an eye on the developing synergies between the starting jungler and Zoom/YaGao, as well as imp and LvMao bot lane.
4) Topsports Gaming
2018 Spring Record: 3-16
2018 Summer Record: 10-9
Top: Bai “369” Jia-Hao
Top: Xiong “Moyu” Hui-Dong
Jungle: Xiong “Xx” Yu-Long
Mid: Zhuo “Knight” Ding
Bot: Lee “LokeN” Dong-wook
Bot: Zhang “QiuQiu” Ming
Support: Nam “Ben” Dong-hyun
Support: Wu “Cat” Yao
Teams aren’t exactly at 100% heading into the Demacia Cup, but Topsports Gaming looked good in reaching the finals. We expect them to be contenders in 2019.
3) Suning
2018 Spring Record: 9-10
2018 Summer Record: 10-9
Top: Xie “XiaoAL” Zhen-Ying
Jungle: Yang “H4cker” Zhi-Hao
Mid: Huang “Maple” Yi-Tang
Bot: Han “Smlz” Jin
Support: Hu “SwordArT” Shuo-Chieh
When you bring in talents like Maple and SwordArT to accompany XiaoAL and Smlz, you expect to bring home hardware.
2) Royal Never Give Up
2018 Spring Record: 12-7
2018 Summer Record: 14-5
Top: Shek “AmazingJ” Wai Ho
Top: Yan “Letme” Jun-Ze
Jungle: Hung “Karsa” Hao-Hsuan
Jungle: Liu “Mlxg” Shi-Yu
Mid: Li “Xiaohu” Yuan-Hao
Bot: Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao
Support: Shi “Ming” Sen-Ming
The top team of 2018 heading into worlds, RNG head into 2019 as an underdog for the first time in years. We hope to see them shy away from the put-everything-into-Uzi strategy that they displayed at Worlds and return to the style that made them dominant early in 2018.
1) Invictus Gaming
2018 Spring Record: 18-1
2018 Summer Record: 18-1
Top: Lee “Duke” Ho-seong
Top: Kang “TheShy” Seung-lok
Jungle: Gao “Ning” Zhen-Ning
Mid: Song “Rookie” Eui-jin
Bot: Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo
Support: Wang “Baolan” Liu-Yi
The undisputed top team heading into 2019, the questions around the team are more about potential complacency and meta shifts than anything concrete. Improving their team fighting will be their priority for 2019.
